CHAPTER 457: THE FLAME-CHASER’S ACHILLES’ HEEL

"What... did you call me?"

The corner of Durandal’s mouth twitched. She couldn’t help but rub her left shoulder, which was numb from where Kiana’s head had been resting. The Valkyrie uniform there was damp, clearly from the girl’s drool while she slept.

For a moment, Durandal had the urge to drag this girl to the headquarters’ exclusive training room and drill her into the ground for an entire day.

Honestly... Beside her, Michael, who was carrying Seele, turned his head and gave her a slight smile. She couldn’t tell if he was just enjoying the drama or...

Durandal was caught between anger and amusement, but in the end, she just reached out and patted Kiana’s shoulder.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Durandal, an S-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal. You’ve probably heard of me, right?"

Of course she had. Any Schicksal Valkyrie might not know the name of the second-ranked S-rank, Rita, but it was impossible not to know the title of the strongest, Durandal.

But Kiana just stood there, staring blankly at Durandal, so much so that everyone else also paused, looking quizzically at the dazed girl.

It was just... she felt as if she’d heard similar words not long ago.

"Let me introduce myself. I am Cecilia Schariac, a Schicksal S-rank Valkyrie. You’ve probably heard of me, right?"

You couldn’t just say they were similar—they were identical.

And yet, they were different. After the initial haze of confusion, Kiana’s vision gradually cleared. She looked at the long, golden hair, so different from the mother she had just seen in her dream, and an indescribable sorrow welled up in her heart.

That world had felt so real, as if it had actually happened. She had truly believed she had traveled back in time... To think that no matter how real it felt, a dream was still just a dream, and eventually, you had to wake up...

The thought of having mistakenly called someone "mom" in her groggy state made Kiana want to find a hole to crawl into. But beneath the weight of her tangled emotions, she felt a fire ignite within her, a baseless anger flaring up—

"What do you think you’re doing?! Let go!"

She suddenly lunged forward, trying to snatch Abyss Flower. Durandal, caught off guard, accidentally let her touch the slender black shaft. The moment it was touched by an outsider, countless thorns erupted from the weapon. It was too late for Durandal to control them. The thorns pierced Kiana’s palm, but she clenched her jaw and refused to let go.

"You’re the one who should let go! This belongs to my mom! Why do you have it!"

Durandal, of course, couldn’t let go. After learning the identity of Abyss Flower’s previous wielder, she had rarely used the weapon. She couldn’t clearly articulate the reason why, but she knew it wasn’t because she felt unworthy of it.

Therefore, there was no way she would simply hand it over.

"Kiana!"

"That idiot!"

The sudden turn of events stunned everyone else. Mei and Bronya were about to rush forward but were stopped by Michael.

"Calm down. This is Kiana’s business. She has to be the one to resolve it."

A few of the Snow Lotus squad Valkyries watched Kiana with a hint of hostility, muttering things only they could hear. As one of the only two people present who knew the whole truth, Rita saw that Michael had no intention of intervening. She gave a helpless smile and explained to Anna Schariac in a weak but still elegant and calm voice:

"That girl is Lady Cecilia’s daughter."

"So that’s her!"

Anna looked at Kiana. She did bear some resemblance to the Cecilia in the photographs.

"In a way, you could say this is a private matter for your Schariac family. What? Aren’t you going to step in and explain?"

Rita winked mischievously, unceremoniously pushing Anna into the spotlight.

Anna didn’t overthink it. Since the loud B-rank Valkyrie was Lady Cecilia’s child, she was technically a sort of elder figure to her. And Lady Durandal had always been her idol. Being caught in the middle was certainly awkward, but on the other hand, it also made her the perfect person to clear up the misunderstanding.

Under Durandal’s control, the thorns on Abyss Flower retracted. The wounds on Kiana’s hand healed rapidly under the power of the white flower, but this display of leniency did nothing to make Kiana back down. She maintained her firm grip on the weapon, though she made no other move.

Perhaps she knew her actions were unreasonable, but she couldn’t think of any other way to vent the complex storm of emotions she couldn’t even put into words.

Or perhaps she was fully aware she was being unreasonable, but now that she’d made a scene, she didn’t know how to back down without some outside intervention.

"Kiana, your name is Kiana Kaslana, correct?"

A hand gently patted her shoulder. Kiana turned her head warily. Seeing it was a Valkyrie she didn’t recognize, she turned back, stubbornly raising her chin to meet Durandal’s gaze.

Anna sighed and touched her forehead.

"Calm down, Kiana. First, let me tell you my name. I’m Anna, Anna Schariac. Based on that surname alone, I think I have the right to speak with you, don’t I?"

Kiana’s body trembled almost imperceptibly. She neither agreed nor disagreed, so Anna continued on her own:

"In Schicksal’s early days, its administration was rather chaotic, and there were no regulations for the management of the Divine Keys. For example, the Eleventh Divine Key has always been under Schicksal’s direct control, but the Judgement of Shamash, which I’m sure you’ve heard of, and the Abyss Flower before you were once passed down through the Kaslana and Schariac families, respectively. This model was obviously not conducive to proper management, so after Lord Otto became the Overseer, Schicksal reclaimed ownership of all Divine Keys."

"The reason people still have the mistaken impression that Shamash is a Kaslana heirloom and Abyss Flower is a Schariac heirloom is simply because those two bloodlines are exceptionally compatible with those two Divine Keys. Of course, there’s a difference, and it’s this difference that led to different outcomes—the Kaslana bloodline suppresses the Judgement of Shamash. No one but a Kaslana can use it. The Schariac bloodline, on the other hand, resonates with Abyss Flower. A Schariac is the best wielder for it, but not the only one. This is all information you can find in the Schicksal archives. If you don’t believe me, you can look it up yourself."

Evidently, Anna had jumped to conclusions, misjudging the reason for Kiana’s outburst based on her own perspective.

Nevertheless, her words had some effect. Kiana tilted her head, her expression turning vacant. Then, in a dull, almost dim-witted tone, she said something that nearly made Anna choke:

"Wha... what does that mean?"

"Ugh... Hahhh... Hooo..."

Anna rarely got angry, but her blood pressure spiked, and she couldn’t help but take a deep breath.

"It means that these Divine Keys are Schicksal’s ’public property.’ The reason only Kaslanas use the Judgement of Shamash is because no one else can. But Abyss Flower is different. It only unleashes its maximum power in the hands of someone who has awakened the Schariac Stigmata, but not every generation of Schariacs has someone capable of that. I, for one, cannot. So, Abyss Flower is sometimes entrusted to other powerful Valkyries. Before your mother, Cecilia, its wielder was not a member of the Schariac family either."

"Ah, oh..." Kiana responded vaguely.

"So... what’s a Divine Key...?"

Anna was about to give a proper explanation when she saw Kiana suddenly release her grip on Abyss Flower. Mumbling "what’s a Divine Key" to herself, she walked past Anna and over to that "teacher" named Michael.

"Hey! Old man Michael, what exactly is a Divine Key?"

Anna’s expression turned incredibly strange. She pressed her lips together with all her might but still couldn’t stop the corners of her mouth from curling upward.

"If you want to laugh, just laugh," Durandal said suddenly. "That girl... she seems dumb on the surface, but sometimes her brain works pretty well."

With the farce concluded, the group continued toward the designated rendezvous point.

The Valkyries of the Snow Lotus squad slowed the entire team’s pace.

They had no external injuries, but they were mentally and physically exhausted to an extreme degree. Every step seemed to be a monumental effort.

In contrast, Mei, Bronya, and Kiana, who had also been unconscious, were still full of life. Michael didn’t understand if it was because their assailant had been particularly gentle with them, or because they had been unconscious for a shorter time and thus suffered less fatigue.

A few of the A-rank Valkyries from the Snow Lotus squad grumbled under their breath as they marched, complaining about why the Hyperion hadn’t landed closer.

To this, Michael could only smile.

He knew these A-rank Valkyries weren’t greenhorns like Kiana’s group. They certainly knew that a large carrier like the Hyperion needed a wide, open space to land.

The Oceania Branch originally had such a place, but now it was all rubble. But people were like that—always complaining, as long as they knew what was what in their hearts.

Michael had already spoken with them. According to their accounts, they had all suddenly lost consciousness while searching for survivors. They had no idea what happened in between. It was the same for Anna; she had no memory of being possessed or fighting.

Was it Su? Or Aponia?

Too much time had passed for Michael to identify the culprit from the remaining traces. Of course, that was also because there was little point in pursuing their identity; otherwise, Michael had plenty of ways to find out.

He was more curious about what had happened to Mei, Bronya, and Seele while they were unconscious.

What had they seen? Mei seemed to be handling it well. Bronya had always maintained a certain level of wariness toward him, which wasn’t his fault, but rather a product of the environment she grew up in.

It made it difficult for her to trust anyone completely, even Natasha in the past or Michael now, because they were both people who could threaten her life. As for Seele, it was a harsh truth, but perhaps it was her frailty that lowered Bronya’s subconscious guard.

But after this incident, Michael felt something was different. That "equal-opportunity" wariness had evolved into defensiveness.

Wariness and defensiveness were two completely different concepts.

Wariness was unavoidable between people; it’s just that children usually didn’t think too much about it, and Bronya was simply more mature for her age. Besides, wariness wasn’t particularly aggressive; it was more of a cognitive tool to maintain one’s sense of self.

But defensiveness carried a degree of aggression. It wasn’t just about being ready for an attack from the other party; it was also about proactively attacking when necessary to prevent them from doing something detrimental to oneself, wasn’t it?

Anyone who wasn’t an idiot could guess that this change stemmed from their recent bout of unconsciousness.

That being the case, Michael couldn’t help but be interested in what they had seen. Furthermore, they had all fallen unconscious, so why had those two woken up, while Seele...

Durandal had tried using Abyss Flower to heal Seele earlier, but nothing had happened. Michael’s senses told him Seele was unharmed and her consciousness hadn’t left her body.

Both her own consciousness and the one in her Stigmata that Michael was more familiar with were still present, yet they were unreachable, unwakeable.

This was the first thing in many years that had truly stumped him.

As for why Kiana hadn’t fallen into the same dream as the other three?

Michael couldn’t help but smile. That was the only piece of good news so far today—thankfully, he had prepared a countermeasure.

Although, this countermeasure wasn’t meant to guard against Su or Aponia, but... Hua.

At St. Freya, Kiana obviously had more opportunities to interact with Hua, her class monitor, than with him, her part-time teacher. And Hua possessed the Eighth Divine Key, Fenghuang Down.

Even though Michael knew that, given her personality, she wouldn’t do much more than leave a feather from Fenghuang Down on Kiana for emergencies, he still had to be prepared.

What Michael had done was simply a failsafe—if Kiana’s consciousness were ever subjected to a psychic attack and knocked into a non-lucid state, the failsafe would automatically activate, pulling her consciousness into a dream that Michael had already woven for her.

Clearly, the failsafe had worked. As long as Kiana wasn’t out of his control, minor problems in other areas didn’t matter—this was true for both Michael and Otto.

It was the cornerstone of their cooperation.

However, Michael’s plan required one extra person—Raiden Mei.

He suddenly turned his head without warning to look at Mei, who was pushing Wendy’s wheelchair. Sensing his gaze, she looked up naturally and offered a gentle smile.

Good. It’s not a big problem.

Besides, sooner or later, he would have to reveal all his sins to Mei.

"Um... the destruction here... did I cause all of it?" Wendy, in her wheelchair, suddenly spoke.

Mei didn’t know how to answer and looked to Michael for help.

"Yes."

Michael nodded. There was nothing to hide, and nothing could be hidden.

Based on the wind currents, Michael could deduce what had happened. Just as Bronya had initially speculated, the strong turbulence the Hyperion encountered at high altitude was the effect of the Fourth Divine Key, while the ground had only experienced one major gust—the one caused by Wendy.

Mei hadn’t expected Michael’s answer to be so direct. The words of comfort she had prepared were now stuck in her throat.

"Wendy, what happened right before you unleashed your Herrscher powers?"

Michael asked abruptly, but didn’t give her time to answer.

"Actually, I can guess what happened. Mei might think I should be gentler, like I was with her in Nagazora City, since you’re also a victim in this. But she was just a child who knew nothing back then, and I was her guardian. You, on the other hand, are a mature Valkyrie. I’m not blaming you, of course. It’s just that you’ll have plenty of people offering you words of comfort later. So it’s probably better for me to play the bad guy and tell you the blunt truth now."

"I understand."

As Michael said, Wendy was an experienced Valkyrie.

She had been through more and was mentally more mature. She knew Michael was right. Even if everyone coddled her and said, "You didn’t kill a single innocent person," would she believe them? The moment she asked the question, she already knew the answer, so whether they hid it or not didn’t matter.

But... she was still a young woman. After Michael had played the part of the "bad guy," someone still needed to step up and be the "good guy."

"Hehe, Miss Wendy, I have some good news for you. Perhaps it will make you feel a little better."

Rita always tended to precede her words with a pair of elegant, soft laughs. Sometimes, this laughter could lead to misunderstandings, but clearly, Wendy didn’t care about that right now. She just wanted to know what the "good news" was.

"It’s a rather strange matter. Starting over a month ago, a mysterious organization began spreading panic in New Zealand. They didn’t use any violent methods, but simply kept repeating a ridiculous prophecy to the people here—the gist of it was that the residents of New Zealand carry an original sin, and that soon, the sea level will rise and submerge the entire country as judgment for this sin."

"Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? The problem is that more than half—to be precise, over 70%—of New Zealand’s residents believed it and emigrated over the past month. The New Zealand government even requested Schicksal’s help with the matter, but the Overseer didn’t pay it much mind. Since you were always at the Oceania Branch, and Schicksal didn’t plan to intervene, you weren’t aware of it."

"That is peculiar. If it wasn’t a coincidence, then the rumors they spread actually ended up saving millions of people," Durandal commented seriously from the side. It wasn’t that she felt compelled to speak, but whenever Rita started talking, she couldn’t help but want to chime in.

"I see..."

Wendy hadn’t reacted much, but Michael, on the other hand, broke into a knowing smile.

If Rita hadn’t brought it up, he never would have known about it.

But with this, hadn’t he just found their Achilles’ heel?

"Rita, are there any records of this incident?"

"Schicksal only has some correspondence with the New Zealand government. However, there should be relevant files in their archives. If you need them, I can request access from the Overseer on your behalf. As for any information that was circulating online, I’m afraid you’ll have to collect and sort through that yourself."

"Thank you. That’s more than enough."

With the Authority of Corruption, gathering scattered information from the internet would be all too easy.